Education Matters: California Tiny House partners with Fresno County schools

FRESNO COUNTY, California – Fresno County is home to one of the top builders of tiny houses in the state.

“We started about three and a half years ago, and had I known what this would become back then I may have done things differently, expanded a little sooner than I did,” said Nick Mosley, co-founder of California Tiny House.

Mosley, whose family operates California Tiny House, said the movement isn’t going anywhere and will continue to grow. In that assessment, the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools saw an opportunity to grow its career technical education program.

“You have to stay up with what’s going on, and right now, there is such a huge demand for skilled labor coming out through our nation that anything we can do to give those kids an edge upon completion of high school is going to make them that much better and much more employable once they get out into the real workforce,” said Anthony Ayerza, area coordinator for Fresno County Superintendent of Schools career technical education (CTE).

Teaching students how to build a small house starts in the classroom with the teacher, and this summer, teachers from around the state are here to take part in a training program offered by the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools in partnership with California Tiny House.

Mike Van Winkle is one of those teachers.

“The ability to go actually hands on full scale in a shop that’s producing, that has incredible value for us as instructors,” said Van Winkle, CTE teacher at Mammoth Lakes High School.